Days of Advent, Pt 1

Prologue

Every angle was torture, there was nowhere to turn his head that didn't face hopelessness. Flickers of flames danced and bobbed on his left periphery, on his right a tangle of debris pinned him down. Directly above him in the night sky hovered the burning, violently purple haze of the approaching Meteor. His entire right side throbbed with stabbing agony, he could feel nothing but pain on that side—pain that gripped his back and legs as well. Every breath seared him, every rise of his chest was like his lungs filled with lit embers. He smelled only ash and blood, and his mouth tasted exactly the same.

Rufus Shinra would die here. Alone. This wasn't karma, this was premeditated murder. The planet had sent a thirty-foot tall hitman after him, the rotten bitch. Rufus had taken out Diamond Weapon, and at this moment he hoped Gaia would burn with them both. It'd serve her right.

Sounds. Over the crackling of fire and the throbbing of his own head he could hear voices. In his muddled mind Rufus struggled to decipher them, and when he realized he knew them his will returned in desperation. Strained by the effort of turning his head even slightly, Rufus tried to speak. Immediately his body punished him for it. He shook from weak coughs, but he stubbornly fought against them. He would always fight. His left arm obeyed his commands, slowly and haltingly reaching through a tiny opening in the piled remains of his opulent office—currently his smoldering and constricting prison.

"Tseng!" a woman's voice called out. Rufus knew her, even before her blonde bob cut and soft-brown eyes peering through the rubble edged into his sight. Elena searched through the tangle of debris to see Rufus, and her brow knitted in distress. "I found him. He's still alive!"

A stone-faced, long-haired man brought himself beside Elena, wind rustling the curtains of ebony. For a brief moment Rufus saw relief in Tseng's eyes, then a second of pain, then as quickly as the suggestions of emotions had come, a cold calculation returned. "Hold on, sir." Tseng turned his head. "Reno! Rude! This way. We need help moving all this."

How dare they look at Rufus in pity.

If anyone but the Turks had been his rescuers he might have doubted his chances. But failure was not an option for Rufus' most loyal employees. As the bramble of debris began moving, weights on his right side gradually shifting and lifting, he allowed encroaching exhaustion to finally take him. He would wake, he had no doubts.

For now Rufus would only dream of the retribution he'd unleash.

The rattling of cell doors echoed throughout the detention area. Voices passed by Loz, and they were meaningless to him. He sat in the back of his cell, his arms limply draped at his sides and his mako-tinted eyes staring into nothing.

A set of boots stopped at the bars, and the security officer rapped on them with his baton. "Hey. Hey, big guy. Time's up."

Loz didn't move, his eyes blinking dully. He couldn't hear her. No matter how still he was, he couldn't hear her anymore.

"Hey, did ya hear me?" the officer pressed as he opened the cell. "You're out. Get to your CO. Up and at 'em." He waited as Loz made no response. "Do anything. Literally anything."

Everything was so quiet. Loz closed his eyes and his head lolled to the side, resting against his SOLDIER uniform's paldron.

"Goddamn this guy," the guard muttered in a low voice. "Hey. Move it. I'm sick'a yer face," the guard pressed. "And things are crazy in Midgar, so pardon me if I'm tired of your mopey ass and I don't have time for this. Just please, get out of my sight."

Loz felt a hand on his shoulder shake him, and he weakly sagged to the floor. This guard wasn't family. He couldn't understand. No one did. Soft sobs overtaking him, Loz shook and curled in on himself on the concrete floor.

"Oh, sweet mother, why?" the guard groaned. "Really?"

At the word "mother" Loz's face tightened. "She's gone…" Loz whispered in agony. "I can't hear her anymore…I can't…I can't hear anything…"

"Oo-kay, tough guy," he huffed, boots walking away. "Door's open, buddy. I'll be back in five minutes."

Five minutes. Five years. An eternity. What did it matter anymore? The voice that had so strongly called, longed for Loz had silenced. She was gone. Mother was gone.

A new set of boots paused at his cell door, and Loz distantly heard the guard grunt, "What, you think he's your business? Leave him be. I said move. You know what? Fine. See if you can move him. Have fun."

A soft sound indicated a presence nearing Loz's spot on the floor. "You…"

The voice was not immediately familiar, and Loz couldn't drudge the energy to care.

"You…heard her…didn't you?"

At this, Loz's eyes gradually pushed open, and he stared up at a stranger who felt familiar. They were the same rank in SOLDIER, judging by his maroon uniform. His face was soft, eyes shimmering with mako and streaks of silver growing through his black hair.

Silver…just like what had been happening to Loz's hair…

"Heard…?" Loz repeated, slowly lifting himself up. "You didn't…?"

"I heard her," this fellow SOLDIER whispered, his unnaturally blue eyes growing larger in recognition. "Of course, I did. Did you try to go to her?"

He understood. This SOLDIER understood. Loz's eyes misted over again as he eased himself straight. "They thought I was trying to desert…I've been in here…and now…and now…" Overtaken by emotion, Loz leaned fully against the stranger, arms wrapping around his chest tightly. "She's gone silent…she's gone. I felt like I belonged to something…but she's gone…"

"I thought I was the only one," the other laughed painfully, awkwardly patting Loz's shoulder. "We found each other. We're brothers, don't you see?"

Loz forced his breath to steady and leaned back. "Brothers…?"

"We have the same mother," he said with a distant smile. "Brothers through Jenova, yes?"

Her name…! The presence had never spoken so strongly to Loz, he had never pieced together any thought other than "Reunion." To hear that name was like coming home, and through his pain he managed a smile. "Jenova…her name was Jenova?"

"Not was," the SOLDIER pressed, his hands on Loz's pauldrons to steady him. "Is. She's not gone. I know it. W-We can find her."

"Yeah?"

"Yes," he affirmed with a nod. "SOLDIER is in disarray, I've heard it. We'll be able to get out with no problems. Find others. There must be others like us."

"Even one would be enough," Loz chuckled, wiping tears from his face. "I'm…Loz. Loz Vaca."

"No, no," the SOLDIER said quickly, holding up a hand. "Loz is enough. That old family is useless to you, isn't it?"

A smile crossing his hard face, Loz nodded. "Yes. Yes, you're right. It is. Loz."

"A pleasure, Loz," his brother said, standing. He held out a gloved hand to Loz, smiling gently. "I'm Kadaj. Let's leave."

Days of Advent is part of the Days of Advent AU

Stars Over Midgar, DoA Pt 1

Through Another's Eyes, DoA Pt 2

The View From the Ground, DoA Pt 2.5
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